Greene King Strong Suffolk (Olde Suffolk)

Brewed by Greene King
Style: Old Ale
Bury St. Edmunds, England

Serve in English pint, Snifter

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Bottle, pours a dark amber with a fine head. Aroma is sweet and fruity. Flavor is strong sweet and spicy. dry finish

500ml brown bottle, unable to find a best before date, drank on 11th march 2007. Poured into a straight sleeve pint glass. Dark, very dark ruby red colour with a good foam light brown head. it looks healthy and heavy, a fine, clear sparkling liquid. Spices like corriander and some cloves in the aroma, mixed with hops and dark almost burnt malts. Nothing to strong though. I like the taste, woody with tones of caramel and toffee combine to give it a Christmas like flavour, very pleasant. The label claims some of the beer (which is a blend) has been aged for two years in oak. Which is where the woody flavour obviously comes from. Full bodied is too strong to use, but it is a well rounded beer and the aftertase and mouthfeel are impressive, the flavours stay, with a burnt feeling becoming more prominent. Greene King get a lot of stick from some of British real ale drinkers, but this is a fine beer and they should be applauded for producing it.

500ml bottle. Clear dark brown, red glow, with small lacing off-white head. Slightly alcoholic, hop counterbalanced, butterscotch and toffee aroma, a nuttily note. Nuttily taste, citrus sprinkles, a touch of orange cest. Slightly watery finish.

Aroma light molasses and caramel, a toasty taste, light across palate with very small bubbles with a kinda burnt finish. The appearance is the best part with a really dark amber color. Great beer.

Bottle from the local Yamaya discount liquor shop. Aromas of candied dark fruit. Very dark brown with some ruby highlights and thin tan head. Strong caramel flavors with notes of smoke. Very good balance. Overall, quite smooth, with some metallic tingle on the tongue and a long but mild aftertaste. A well-done blend.

Bottle: Filtered. Marketed in the United States as Olde Suffolk. A blend of two ales: Old 5X , which is brewed to the maximum strength possible (around 12% abv) and left to mature in 100-barrel oak vats for a minimum of two years, and BPA, a dark, full-bodied freshly brewed beer which is added just before bottling.

Bottle shared at home tasting. Clear brown pour with tan head. Aroma of fruits, fudge and malts. Malt, oak, caramel, fruit flavour. Medium body and carbonation.

50cl bottle courtesy of Kermis. Thin white head. Clear amber pour. Interesting aftertaste. Pretty nice.

Tasted from a clear glass pint bottle into nonic pint glass. It poured a transparent dark reddish brown color with weak off-white foam and some lingering lace. Aromas of caramelized brown sugar, toffee, hardwood, fruity ale yeast esters and faint flowery English hops. Flavor was malty, caramelly, enough tangy hops to keep it from being sticky-sweet, definite signs of age/oxidation but in a beneficial way. Medium body, low-moderate carbonation, well-rounded mouthfeel, slight alcohol warmth. Smooth, nuanced, and still extremely drinkable. Reminiscent of a cellared Belgian Dubbel. I would enjoy drinking several of these.

Smell of caramel and cognac. Brown, very high head, cola-brown colour. Aroma of cognac and oak, whisky in the aftertaste. Fine!